Football Fan map for London and environs

Click on the graphic above for a larger view of this London fan map (liberated from Think Big.)

I have altered the graphic a bit, in that I substituted the full names of the various London boroughs instead of their abbreviations.

My first thought? London is a LOT bigger than I thought it was. I thought I had seen the place during a week and a half stay back in the eighties, yet looking at this map I realize that the parts I became familiar with were limited to Camden, Hamlet Towers, and the Cities of London and Westminister.

In fact, I believe that the only time I went south of the river Thames was to visit the Imperial War Museum.

Good times, good times...

An idea for a Shootout replacement

Sudden death overtime, 1 new substitute in each period for 2 20-minute periods. After 2 periods, 2 players are allowed to be substituted in each period, including redcarded and previously replaced players, and the periods should continue INDEFINITELY.

Let's stop the madness! Perhaps this would avoid the spectacle of Portugal, one man up, playing defensively in extra time in hopes of a shootout.

Let the moronic horn-honking begin!

Well, it's the apex of the four-year World Cup cycle again, which brings the local yokels out in force to either a) drive around a couple of city blocks, honking their horns, screaming "WHOO! WHOO!" out of their windows, and doing their bit to ensure that everyone in Toronto has a better chance of developing lung cancer, or b) (if no vehicle is available) stand on the side of the road on either Dundas or College Street, scream "WHOO! WHOO!", wave flags and blow whistles at passing motorists.

For hours. And hours. There doesn't seem to be any boozing in the street (lots of police are around to actively prevent this) nor is there any indication of pot smoking (although police generally seem to tolerate this). So how are these people able to maintain this level of apparent euphoria for hours on end? They can't ALL be on mushrooms/extasy/whatever. It is a total mystery to me. The only thing I can think of is that they are, in fact, morons.

I shudder to think about what being a tourist at a real World Cup tournament is like, if this is any indication. However, at least those people are drunk. Which makes it a little more acceptable, especially since they aren't driving.

Sometimes people from other parts of town drive down to blow their own horns, wave their own flags (Korean, Croatian, English, Ecuadoran, Angolan, even Greek, perhaps in memory of their Euro 2004 victory), and generally contribute to the pollution.

The ironic thing, as usual with the World Cup, is that Holland were way better, and deserved the victory. If that ref wasn't in the pay of Portugal's sneaky José Manuel Durão Barroso, I'll eat my hat.

While Portugese seem like interesting enough people (and I originally moved to Toronto because I figured that if I am forced to live in anglophone Canada, at least it should be a place with lots of immigrants), I ultimately find this sort of celebrating a bit of a drain.

Especially since, once Portugal are eliminated, the Brazilian flag will join that of Portugal and the Açores on the roof of everyones' vehicles. That way, any Brazilian success is an excuse for more driving, and more WHOO WHOOing.

That is why I fervently hope for Brazil and Italy to lose. Their presence in World Cup competitions tends to be longer than that of Portugal.

Also, they are notorious 'floppers'.